If B.C.’s government doesn’t want to have anything to do with the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project, and the benefits that it would carry for the economy of that province, and the country as a whole, then perhaps they shouldn’t have any of our oil in their province at all.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has joined his counterpart from Alberta, Rachel Notley, in announcing plans to curtail or even block shipments of oil and natural gas to B.C.
In many trade wars, people often wonder what kind of difference it will make. Remember at the start of the trade war over the pipelines, there was talk of boycotting the wines that come from B.C., or keeping B.C. wines out of our liquor stores?
The impact was ultimately zero, and the losers were the wineries, many of whom don’t support B.C.’s coalition government, along with the consumers who enjoy good wine from the Fraser Valley, the Okanagan and other areas.
But cutting off B.C. from oil shipments would have a huge impact. Gasoline prices are high enough in B.C. as it is, thanks to the taxes in that province. Gas prices would soar. And while Alberta and Saskatchewan aren’t the only sources of oil and gas in B.C., they are a significant source.
Those who rail against Trans Mountain as not being in the best interest of the province might change their tune once the oil is cut off, the price of gasoline increases and service stations start to feel the pinch.
The hardcore environmentalists might think we can live in a world without oil, but they’d find out in a hurry how wrong they are.
People in B.C. often get a bad reputation for being earth muffins or tree huggers. Once you get outside of the Vancouver Island, the western municipalities of the Greater Vancouver area and a few other pockets of the province, there’s strong support for Kinder Morgan’s pipeline expansion.
And even with the opposition in certain densely populated areas, a majority of B.C. residents seem to back Trans Mountain.
It’s unfortunate that pragmatic people could be caught in this battle between an unelected government, propped up by Green Party MLAs, and the elected governments in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
The Trans-Mountain expansion needs to happen. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it will be built, although we’re not so sure. Certain Trudeau policies since he became prime minister have allowed some to believe that they can gripe about and hinder this pipeline for long enough that eventually Kinder Morgan will abandon the expansion.
It’s in the best interest of the country. It’s federal jurisdiction. And B.C.’s government should focus its idealism on other issues, and look at other initiatives for its climate change strategy, because there’s a risk that a lot of people could be caught in the crossfire of this trade war.Â
